US wants Afghanistan to sign security agreement within weeks

US officials said that the bilateral security agreement between Kabul and Washington should be signed within the coming weeks if a contingent of US troops is to remain in Afghanistan beyond 2014. White House spokesman Jay Carney warned that United States might completely withdraw from Afghanistan, unless a deal is reached to keep upwards of 8,000 US troops inside the country. "Our position continues to be that if we cannot conclude a bilateral security agreement promptly, then we will be forced to initiate planning for a post-2014 future in which there would be no US or NATO troop presence in Afghanistan," carney said. This comes as Afghan president Hamid Karzai set new conditions for the signing of the bilateral security agreement with Washington, despite the pact as approved during the consultative Loya Jirga, according to Afghan online newspaper (Khaama Press). Karzai also ignored the deadline set by Washington for the signing of the security agreement by the end of 2013, after protracted negotiations that have strained relations between the two countries.